[EM] Small National Assembly. Bottom-Up Government

[Fred Gohlke]

Good Morning, Michael

Thanks, very much, for your post.  I was afraid discussion of a 
bottom-up political process on the Electoral Methods site was going to 
die - again.

I don't know if this is any help, but the heading on your post (the 
place I always click to reply) looks odd to me:

     Michael Ossipoff email9648742 at gmail.com

I clicked on that to post my reply, and my email form came up addressed 
to Electoral Methods instead of you.  I wonder if that was the cause of 
your problem?


re: "It wouldn't be necessary to agree nationally on a voting-
      system, or a Constitution, or any national structure."

I agree.  The structure provided by the U. S. Constitution is excellent. 
  It only failed because single parties gained control of multiple 
branches of our government and defeated the checks and balances built 
into the Constitution (a recent example is the refusal of the party 
controlling the Senate to let the Senate provide its 
constitutionally-mandated Advice and Consent for a Supreme Court 
appointment.)


re: "Local places could meet and govern themselves, and send
      a representative to the next higher level."

In doing so, they will provide proof of concept so other communities are 
encouraged to adopt a bottom-up method of selecting the people's 
representatives.


re: "Working from the bottom, with local assemblies agreeing
      with each other to send their representatives to some
      agreed-upon regional place, for the next higher level of
      government (...and so on, on up), would do."

When thinking about the process at the lowest level, it's important to 
consider how the individuals will act.  Some will not be interested and 
will remove themselves as quickly as possible.  That's important because 
it leaves the individuals with an active interest to select the 
representatives.


re: "If disgust with the current phony democracy becomes pretty
      much universal and unanimous, and if democracy is never
      granted to us under current rule, then maybe the bottom-up
      formation of a new government will be natural and
      spontaneous."

I agree it will be natural but hope it won't be spontaneous. 
Spontaneous action is more likely to revolutionary than evolutionary, 
and revolutions benefit the organizers, not the people.  A bottom-up 
process will be natural when thoughtful folks explain why the current 
system failed and devise a practical method for the people to select the 
best of their number to represent them in their government.

Actually, it has already started to happen.  In May of 2015, the people 
of Frome in the U.K. rejected all party candidates and elected an 
independent city government.  Furthermore, several years ago Rickard 
Falkvinge started a Pirate Party in Sweden because he found Swedish 
politicians unresponsive.  His ideas have spread and Pirate Parties are 
springing up in many countries, including the United States.

Personally, I don't favor the Pirate Party approach because it is just a 
different group of people seeking political power.  I much prefer a 
bottom-up approach, where the people decide the issues that concern them 
and raise the individuals they believe can address and resolve those 
issues to represent them in their government.

Fred Gohlke